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If you have a right to life, you have a right to do any and all harmless actions in support of that right to life. You have a right to work, a right to the fruits of that labor, and a right to own that which you traded your labor for.

Does anyone else have a right to your life? To your labor? To the fruits of your labor? And to that which you acquired?

If someone else does have your rights, how did they get them?

Likewise, can you compel someone else to surrender their rights to you, to support your right to life? Do you have a claim upon the services of another? And their property?

How did you get that power?

I believe that the individual’s right to life, to liberty and to own are endowments, not government granted privileges. And any government instituted to secure rights has no delegation of power to infringe upon those rights, liberties or property rights without consent of the governed.

Using government to compel others to labor for your benefit without their consent, is state sponsored slavery. No matter how needy or deserving the recipient, compulsory labor for the benefit of another is still slavery. And slavery is not an acceptable cure for the ills of mankind.

The world is divided into those who respect the property rights of the individual, and those who wish to take those rights for themselves, under whatever pretense or excuse. Do not be deceived by confusing rhetoric or mesmerizing speeches. If the net result is expropriation of your property or compulsion to labor for another, it had better be by your consent, otherwise, you’ve been tricked into servitude and misery.

It is 2117, January 17. Been busy. Not much time to write. For example, today I had chores to do, and it took up a lot of my morning. I had to clean out the crayfish habitat, and set up more “hides” for them. I wish Dad didn’t like crayfish so much. They’re not the most efficient aquaponics crop, with their tendency to “share protein” – eating each other. But I guess it is a small sacrifice. In the right light, their carapace is stunning. Anyway, after cleaning up their habitat, I hooked up the water circulator and returned them to their tank. We should be harvesting a new crop in about 2 weeks. Plus, the fresh water clams will be peaking, too. Yum.

Our aquaponics set up is modest. There’s only three of us, and we don’t need more than about 8 square meters of planters for our sunwall.

Later. I am going to meet my friends, down in the Central park – that’s in the middle of our dual ring village. We’ve reserved the climbing wall, and plan to do some “hanging out” free climbing. After that, we’re going to the Food court and enjoy some food and walking scenery. If the sky is clear tonight, we plan to go to the observatory and star gaze. Maybe we’ll see the new mega orbiter that is due to cross overhead.

I read the newsfeed on the latest snag – a finished hull from AeroPlant 8 was to rendezvous with a catch crew at L-5. They’re going to cobble together a high inclined orbit colony, and pack it with plenty of raw materials and resources. Then they will surf gravity on the Interplanetary Transport Network to gain sufficient velocity and vector into their new orbit. I think I want to go into space colonization, but Dad is not too supportive. He thinks that they’re not as elite as they let on. He calls them Can Junkies, and Mothershippers. I keep my opinions to myself, when he’s that way.

I know that Earth has plenty of expansion volume left, but sometimes I get winsome looking at the Firefly sky. Outer Space is the Place !

Normally, I don’t get too excited about ring racing anymore. But it was a special race, with two friends in the running. The Ring wardens set up safety lines and made sure the race path was clear of obstacles. Then at noon + five minutes, the race began. In our dual ring village, we have a five story design, so we have four levels of balconies. This increases the stress on our racers, in contrast to “short” rings with only four stories and three levels of balconies.

The race is complicated by the fact that balconies don’t have much passing room. And the runners don’t have priority over other users. Which makes it almost an obstacle course at times.

Of course, the fun comes with dye tossing. Spectators are encouraged to toss, squirt, shoot or sling brightly colored (washable) dyes on the runners. It becomes a riot of colors at the end. Fans of the winner often try to match his final color profile as a sign of their support.

At the race’s end, the rested racers and dye smeared spectators took a “victory” march around the ring boulevard, ending up at the park, where a big feast was laid out.

We had a great time. I may have to start getting involved more. But it may take another shower or two to get all this dye off me.

It is 2117, January 11. Today, Earth’s human population was guesstimated at 29,247,656,951. We’ll be soon reaching 30 billions. Wow. Looking back to the last century, it’s been quite a revolution. The planet has been geotechnically engineered, vastly expanding the habitable volume, and thickening the life supporting capacity.

It wasn’t always this way. And many thought mankind could never survive at such numbers.

Where we live, in a dual ring village, it’s a great place, despite the high population density. We live in a large apartment on the fourth level, just under the roof deck. Mom has a garden patch on the roof, like many others. Outside our door, the ring balcony wraps all around. On the railing, Mom put in her flower planters. She’s practical and supports edible landscaping, but she always has some space reserved for flowers.

Down on the ground level, Dad works at his shop, repairing aeroponics systems. He jokes about his long commute – four flights of stairs. His grandfather would regale him with tales of the old days when people would spend hours (really? Or is he exaggerating?) traveling to and from work, shopping or school. Of course, that was when people used a lot of petroleum and consumed surface area like there was no tomorrow.

I have half the day free, and plan to join up with a procession, a small parade around the ring, in observance of St. Google’s day. I am not a member of their Church, but they’re not exclusive, and it’s a lot of fun to be part of the parade. I am a line drummer, and will make some marching noise.

Later, we plan to go to the engineering plant and do some apprentice work on the solar power collectors.

How can we best prepare this world for the seventh generation to come? What can we reasonably plan for? What mistakes can we avoid? What contingency plans can we make?

Trends

Based on current trends, we can expect population doubling every 40 – 50 years. Which may result in a quadrupling of population in 2110, and eightfold by 2150.
To illustrate –
2010: 7 billions
2060: 14 billions
2110: 28 billions
2150: 56 billions

Needs

Such a population will need that much more food production, that much more habitat. This obviously will require an expansion of land used for agriculture, and a multiplication of output, from it, and other forms of food production.

Goal

Civilization is based on cooperation. By combining the resources and abilities of many individuals, large scale tasks can be accomplished. We need a common vision for the future, so our efforts are not wasted in contrary pursuits.
The common vision is not to be exclusive of other ideas, but that we had better come to some consensus on what vision we wish to make manifest. Parallel efforts are reasonably as long as they moving in the same direction. Conflicting efforts impede resolution.
One way to come to consensus is to create a compendium of reference material, speculative ideas, logical progressions, logistical reasoning, and hope.

Why?

We are instinctive mimics, and often learn by observation as much as by original thinking. When shown images from fictional entertainment, we absorb those ideas. Often, we even assume that such ideas are inevitable or plausible.
Therefore, let’s try to portray a different scenario, one in which we aren’t doomed to destruction.

Tactics

What kind of tactics will allow for such an increase in human population?

“thickening” the life bearing volume

Man, among animals, is most skilled at increasing the life bearing surface, via multilevel construction. There is no physical reason why human habitat must be exclusive and that multilevel construction not include agriculture and wildlife habitat.

efficiency

Why seek efficiency?
Doing more with less, so more can enjoy is the reason. The opposite, doing less with more, is counter productive. Mass production, automation, and every tool that multiplies human labor can be part of the solution.

frugality

Why seek frugality?
Unfortunately, there is a component of human nature that is not satisfied, and often seeks more than he needs. What we may be comfortable with is often at odds with what we want. But there is no reason why being frugal must mean being deprived or somehow in want. Transportation is useful, but do we need to own multiple vehicles, especially expensive, wasteful, and underused?

conservation

Why conserve?
If we can meet our needs with “just enough”, we don’t need more. If we take only what we need, and leave a bit for others, we may not run out.

recycle

Capturing and recycling wastes instead of throwing them out of sight / out of mind is another important strategy. Discarding valuable resources is foolish, and short sighted, to say the least.

General Ideas:

A sane economy would promote prosperity – the creation, trade and enjoyment of surplus goods and services.
The watchword would be : “Do more with less, make more with less, so more can enjoy…”
The most admired people would be those who were prodigious producers, not the most mindless consumers.
A working economy would rely on the law of Physics, not the law of lunatics.
A wise people would plan for future generations, building the infrastructure now, that will be needed then.
Poisoning should not be tolerated, nor should there be legalized poisoning.

Specific projects or ideas:

[] Transition to electrified rail transportation (Assuming that a better solution is not found)

[] Build high population density mixed use developments served by rail mass transit
[] “Thicken” the life bearing volume, by multilevel construction, incorporating agriculture and wildlife habitat where feasible
[] Recover arable land lost to suburban sprawl, consolidate rural populations into villages, where feasible. (i.e., instead of isolated family farms, have farming villages surrounded by farmland)
[] Synergistic development of power distribution for electric rail in parallel with alternative power sources (wind turbines, solar, etc).

1. Overhead catenary power for streetcars / trams and trolley buses
2. Design Electric vehicles that can tap into the catenary, to extend range

Let us ponder how we will provide for their needs
[] Design high population density, livable villages, towns, cities
[] Design transportation that is frugal, efficient, and durable
[] Conserve, recycle, re-use resources
[] Focus on sustainability, long term, long view, and more abundance